Quan Chi has recently become playable in Mortal Kombat 1 for owners of the Kombat Pack, though those without the Kombat Pack will have to wait until December 21 before gaining access to this deadly sorcerer.
While he was playable in Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X, he was completely absent from Mortal Kombat 11. As it turns out, Liu Kang’s new timeline has caused Quan Chi’s playstyle to dramatically change since his last appearance. Being that this is Quan Chi’s first time as a DLC character in the Mortal Kombat series, is he actually worth the money?
I’ve never personally spent too much time playing Quan Chi in the Mortal Kombat series, but I was surprised to see that he essentially functions as a brand new fighter. He’s completely unlike how he’s ever been.
It makes me wonder how longtime fans will perceive their favorite character considering just how different he is. Not only is he unique, he’s quite extreme in how NetherRealm Studios has opted to design him this time around.
At this point, Quan Chi is now the most volatile zoning archetype in Mortal Kombat 1. Again though, this is really not what I expected because Quan Chi, as far as I know, has never really been a pure zoning archetype. Playing Quan Chi actually feels similar to playing as Dhalsim now from the Street Fighter series.
Quan Chi’s ranged options are actually pretty amazing, but they’re also uniquely complex. Even fighters with anti-projectile options and Kameos can be pressured from Quan Chi at any distance.
If Quan Chi can get set up with his Zone of Power buff, then he becomes almost completely unapproachable, albeit only for a very limited duration. Overall, Quan Chi’s game plan has it so that he wants to keep the opponent as far away from him as possible.
Upon landing hits, Quan Chi can apparently tack on some serious damage. It’s not too difficult to achieve 30-40% with his abilities. He even has multiple strings that do a good job of setting up juggles and extend combos.
However, Quan Chi’s new identity as a pure zoning type character comes at a heavy price. Let me emphasize just how awful Quan Chi’s defense is in Mortal Kombat 1.
For starters, Quan Chi for sure has the crappiest crouching pokes in the game, and probably some of the worst in NRS history. I can’t stress how problematic this is for Quan Chi considering how important these type of moves have traditionally been for Mortal Kombat 1’s meta.
As one might be able to imagine, this is probably going to cause some polarizing match ups for Quan Chi. Just thinking about trying to ward of pressure from rush down characters like Johnny Cage and Baraka just sounds like an absolute nightmare.
To be honest, it’s actually really cool how Quan Chi is able to emphasize himself as a necromancer by summoning skeletons to do his pokes for him. These skeletal attacks do feel like they boast a little extra range with disjointed properties compared to other crouching pokes in the game, but that’s really the only advantages that they give Quan Chi. These pokes have flat out awful frame data otherwise.
Additionally, Quan Chi is tied with Nitara for having the lowest amount of health in the game. When paired with Kameos like Kung Lao or Scorpion, Quan Chi’s health pool clocks in at a measly 900 health. Pair up with Stryker, Goro, Motaro, or Kano, and that health value will fall even lower to 850.
Maybe I’m a bit spoiled as a Baraka player, but I also found Quan Chi’s jump in attacks to be especially bad. This left me with the impression that I’m not really supposed to be doing jump ins as Quan Chi, further emphasizing that Quan Chi doesn’t want to be close to opponents.
It seems like Quan Chi is supposed to either use his armored Enhanced Falling Death special or a Kameo with good reversal options to escape pressure. However, these options are obviously risky.
Quan Chi is, by design, supposed to have terrible defense in this game. He’s intended to be a glass cannon zoning archetype.
Honestly though, I think it’s actually kind of refreshing that NetherRealm Studios is willing to give characters with extreme strengths equally extreme weaknesses to keep them in check. This is especially because NRS has a history of designing very powerful zoners that were also too strong up close. In other words, it really feels like NRS has learned valuable lessons from putting characters like Deadshot in Injustice 2.
However, even though Quan Chi no longer feels like himself from a gameplay standpoint, he absolutely does from an aesthetic standpoint. Specifically, I remember back in a cutscene for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon how Quan Chi summoned skeletons to fight for him, though he never actually did this sort of thing while playing him.
Now, a lot of Quan Chi’s attacks come from either skeletal summons or his new Lovecraftian pet. He’ll also use portals to extend the reach of his limbs that do a good job of tracking the opponent’s movements, which is reminiscent of one of his Variations from Mortal Kombat X.
While blocking, he’ll also hold up a green skull in front of him. These little touches now really emphasize Quan Chi as a necromancer and sorcerer in really cool ways.
Both of his Fatalities are also pretty amazing, though it’s disappointing that his Cthulhu-like pet plays no role in his Fatalities.
Overall though, I personally didn’t really enjoy playing Quan Chi that much in Mortal Kombat 1, but I suspect that’s only because the playstyle just doesn’t do anything for me.
I do think that Quan Chi could be worth the money, but only for those that really enjoy frustrating opponents with a complex zoning character. He’s also exclusively for advanced players. It’s going to take a lot of effort and labbing to really make Quan Chi work.
For most people, I think Quan Chi might be a bit too complex and extreme with how he’s designed. The character could be really good in the long run, though I think most people are probably better off skipping him altogether as a standalone DLC fighter.